SXSW: Super High Me Smokes the First Day of Film Screenings

AUSTIN, Texas — One of South by Southwest 2008’s first film premieres opened to a packed and uproarious house of pot aficionados and comedy lovers alike.

Super High Me, spawned from a joke in comedian and star of the film Doug Benson’s stand-up act, spoofs Morgan Spurlock’s month-long fast food diet in Super Size Me. If you haven’t guessed it already, rather than gorging on McDonald’s, Benson indulges in another type of refreshment for 30 days — marijuana.

Luckily, Benson, also a talking head on VH1’s Best Week Ever (and High Times’ 2006 Stoner of the Year), doesn’t just blaze through the 90 minutes of film.

Though Super High Me could worm its way into the ranks of classic stoner films like Cheech and Chong’s Up in Smoke, Dave Chappelle’s Half-Baked or even Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle (if the audience’s constant raucous cheering, hoots and laughter is any gauge), the film offered more substance than is standard for the genre.

Instead, Benson embarks on a surprisingly rigorous experiment, undergoing elaborate mental, physical and psychological evaluations for a 30-day period of sobriety before his pot-acular diet. Lightning-quick, effective educational blurbs animated with Reefer Madness-esque graphics punctuate the levity of the film’s titular experiment, diving deep into the medical marijuana debate and those affected by it.

Other high points of the film (see trailer, right) included clips of Benson’s own diarylike reflections of his experiment in high-larious snippets from nightly performances, where he openly laments and cracks rapid-fire jokes about not being able to indulge in his favorite pastime.

Of course, all of this is just a prelude, an anticipation-building countdown to the meat of the movie — the nonstop smoke-out.

Surprisingly, the movie’s monumental moment — when Benson inhales a large quantity of smoke from a clunky vaporizer — is overshadowed by the first half of the film, which is made funnier by the abundance of commentary by fellow comedian friends like Bob Odenkirk, Brian Pohsen and Patton Oswalt (not to mention the steady stream of nostalgic jokes about getting high).

A bright spot, eliciting cheers from the entire audience (save the older woman sitting next to me who harumphed and puffed out her cheeks), came during the pre- and post-pot binge evaluation results: Benson performed better on his SATs, showed an increased sperm count and an increased psychic ability.

During the post-screening Q&A, however, Benson was quick to point out that the film doesn’t exactly glorify pot. "I looked like a total idiot," Benson told an audience member who lectured him for "only showing the positive sides of pot."

"And I gained 8 pounds," Benson added.

When asked about Spurlock’s response to the film (and if he was going to sue), one of the SXSW panelists piped up: "He liked the film! And promised not to sue, but wished he’d seen it." To which Benson cheerly interjected, "Well, then next I’m doing, Where the Hell Is Osama With My Weed!"

Check back later for an exclusive Q&A as Wired.com sits down with Benson from his hotel room in Austin to chat about his project, the munchies after 30 days of pot, and whether you can ever really get too high.